1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an oil seal structure provided with a damper for reducing vibration of a shaft, and to a turbocharger.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known a turbocharger in which a shaft provided with a turbine wheel at one end and a compressor wheel at the other end is rotatably supported in a bearing housing. The turbocharger as described above is connected to an engine, so that the turbine wheel is rotated by exhaust gas discharged from the engine to cause the compressor wheel to rotate with rotation of the turbine wheel through the shaft. In this way, the turbocharger compresses air with rotation of the compressor wheel, and delivers the air to the engine.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2012-36855 (Patent Literature 1) discloses a turbocharger using a rolling bearing. The turbocharger includes a bearing housing provided with a housing hole. The housing hole houses a cylindrical damper member, and the rolling bearing is provided inside the damper member. The rolling bearing rotatably supports a shaft coupling a turbine wheel and a compressor wheel to each other. Between the housing hole and the compressor wheel, an oil seal unit is provided. The oil seal unit axially separates from the housing hole. Between the oil seal unit and the housing hole (rolling bearing), a partition is provided. Note that the shaft extends through the oil seal unit and the partition. The partition divides a space between the oil seal unit and the housing hole (rolling bearing) into two spaces aligned in the axial direction. Lubricant flowing out from the housing hole flows into the two spaces divided by the partition, and then is discharged vertically downward from each of the spaces. As a result, the lubricant is prevented from leaking to the compressor wheel side from the oil seal unit.